My Soundtrack

*Sorry her back is turned for the first half, but if I alert her to the camera's presence, she freezes up.*

Love & Shipoopies,

Leslie

Do I need an excuse from my mom or something?

I think this may be the longest I've EVER BEEN without blogging.  But I am determined to get back on the blogging train.  I probably won't be blogging everyday, but I'm going to try to blog at least 3 times every week.  Promise.  (PLEASE, hold me to it!)

Now on to Wordless Wednesdays!!! Last week was Halloween dress-up days at T's daycare. They do the same dress-up days each year and I take pictures of each day every year. Serious cuteness.

2008

2009

*We were out of town the first 2 days of the week this year.*

2010

2011

Love & Shipoopies,

Leslie

A list...

A list of things I'd rather not EVER do...

1.) kill a roach, or really even SEE a roach
2.) clean out the drain in the kitchen sink when it's full of gross, soggy food
3.) go to sleep without a kiss and "I love you" from both loves of my life
4.) listen to any kind of sport on the radio
5.) try to argue a point I'm passionate about when I'm angry to the point of tears about it.. makes me look weak when really I'm just THAT mad
6.) walk barefooted on a smooth surface (like concerete) that is dirty with a gritty feeling; rough, dirty surfaces aren't as bad.  Barefooted on pavement is somehow less offensive than barefooted on cement.
7.) dust the house
8.) hurt someone's feelings or bruise someone's self confidence - intentionally or accidentally
9.) eat any bean or pea that is mushy - green beans and edamame are about as far as I go into bean/pea territory
10.)  go a single day without something interesting to read


What's on YOUR list of "I wish I never had to..."?

Love & Shipoopies,
Leslie

Wordless Wednesdays - Silly in the mornings

Love & Shipoopies

Leslie

Dance Class

I snuck up to T's dance class recently and hid while taping a snippet of it (hence the video being taken using the mirror instead of straight-on).  The music you hear is from the hallway at daycare, not dance class. The little girl next to T kept seeing me in the mirror and she knows who I am, so she'd try and tell T and I kept having to put my finger to my mouth and go "shhhh" and shake my head so she wouldn't tell her.  It was quite comical. :)



Love & Shipoopies,
Leslie

Oh, how I wish I had these SWEET MOVES!!!

Love & Shipoopies,
Leslie

I... I'm a Dancer! It's who I am... what I do!!!

*Yes, Rick and Sheri, that blog title is totally for your amusement.*

So my little one starts beginner dance classes today.  There's a local studio that comes TO HER DAYCARE during the day and teaches lessons.  She is ECSTATIC!!!

(And I must confess, I'm pretty excited myself.  I mean, look how gorgeous she looks in her "ballet dress" - as she calls it.)

 *Twirling*

 *"Doing a Ballerina"*

*With her bag full of ballet and tap shoes and a change of clothes for after dance class.  She was SO PROUD of her bag and insisted on carrying it around the whole morning.*

Love & Shipoopies,

Leslie

Yes is not an appropriate answer!!!

I was watching the Today Show this morning and they were doing a story on senior citizens getting plastic surgery.  They interviewed this one 75-year-old lady who was having a breast lift and implants so she could look on the outside how she felt on the inside. 


Weird.  I know. 


But that's actually NOT what this blog is about.  After the video montage, they went to the interview in-studio where some reporter I've never laid eyes on *** asked a plastic surgeon something to the effect of, "Do you think it's because of A or more an effect of B?"  (He used real reasons that I blocked from my memory, apparently.)


Do you want to know what the surgeon answered?  (If you don't already know, then you didn't read the blog title well.)


He said, "Yeah, it is."


Ummmm..... Dude, "Yes" is NOT an appropriate question to an either/or question!!!  And I can't tell you how many times a week I have to tell someone that. 


Do you want chicken or pork chops for dinner?...... Yes.


Would you rather watch Olivia or Mickey?..... Yes.


I know sometimes I answer an either/or question with "yes" as a joke because I want BOTH things or because I have no idea which is the right answer.  But when someone genuinely feels they've answered your question appropriately, I can't help but wonder if *please don't die of shock here* as a society, we're so used to multitasking (and so inept at doing it) that we only half hear most of what is said to us... that those people only heard one half of the either/or question and their real answer was, "Sure, whatever" or as I fear most of the time when I get "yes" to an either/or, "Yes, whatever I can say that will make you stop talking and interrupting the other thing I'm doing."  *tee-hee*


*le sigh*


Do YOU ever get the feeling that someone's not REALLY listening to you OR do you feel totally heard all of the time in your life?


Yes.


Love & Shipoopies,
Leslie


***Anyone else noticed that since Meredith left the Today Show, there's been so much shuffling around of anchors (and Matt's been kind of in and out), that some days, I can't name a single person on set?  And almost everyday there's someone that I've never laid eyes on?  And I don't mean Al, Natalie, or Ann - I know them.  There's all these OTHER people on everyday doing almost everything!! It's very troubling to me.  Just sayin'.

Bad Days are Relative

Monday:

I went to the neurologist (for worsening Carpal Tunnel) where they tapped, electrocuted, and stabbed... I mean "poked" (the origin of the bruises) me into misery.  I also discovered I had a low-grade fever (which stayed until Wednesday afternoon).  All of that equals someone who wants to take some meds, crawl in the bed, and sleep the rest of the day away from pure puniness instead of going back to work, which is what I had to do.

Tuesday:

Tuesday night, my husband entered the house after a late-night meeting and said, "Want to see something creepy?!?"

My instant reaction?  "Ummmm..... NO.  I mean, is it that huge Harry Potter-worthy spider we saw last month?  'Cause definitely NO!"

"No, it's not the spider.... and I don't THINK it's a cockroach." (This is my one real phobia.)

"Then definitely NOOOOOO."

"I said I DON'T THINK it's a roach."

"If you have to question that it's a roach, I am not interested... especially barefooted in the dark."

But he drug me along and we walked to the driveway where he showed me this little whole with a pile of dirt beside it.  (It got re-covered before I took the pic.)  He insisted I continue watching it as he stomped the ground all around it.  *awesome*

Then suddenly, the dirt started moving with dirt from inside the hole coming out of the hole on the head of... you guessed it.... a cockroach.  Or if it wasn't a cockroach, it was cockroach-tangential. 

YUCK!!!!!  He killed them, then sprayed the hole with bug spray, then recovered it.  It's remained covered... so far.

Friday:

I came downstairs.  I fixed the coffee exactly the same as every other morning.  I walked the 3-year-old to the potty like every other day.  I continued getting the little one dressed like every other morning.  Then I heard the hubs say, "OOOOOOH, NOOOOOOOO."  And immediately, I knew. 

But then, I found THIS:

And I died laughing!!!

Love, Shipoopies, and a little perspective,

Leslie

Breakfast, anyone?

I've always had problems with breakfast.  "Why?" you ask.  Well, I'm not really an egg eater.  I sometimes tolerate an egg over-easy (and occassionally sort of enjoy one), but I pretty much don't like eggs done any other way.  I don't even like the breakfast casseroles that are mostly egg.  And then you try to eat HEALTHY (aka go on Weight Watchers, which I am trying to get myself in the habit of again), and you lose the only redeemable part of an egg - the yolk.  I mean, without the yellow, you've taken what was only slightly pallatable and turned it into metallic-tasting rubber.  BLECH!

Now, I DO love breakfast meats.  Bacon and Sausage? Seriously, YUMMO!!!  But, if I eat those first thing in the morning, well, let's just say I'd better not have anything important planned before lunch.  My stomach does NOT find them to be a pleasant way to start the day.

But to succeed on a diet (and to survive my workdays), I have to eat breakfast.  It's not an option.  And protein bars are high in points, high in carbs, and I'm starving again in an hour.

Then I found THIS idea in a Parenting magazine.  It is my personal breakfast heaven..  It's yummy, has enough cheese to cover the taste of egg whites, is full of my favorite veggies, keeps me full for hours on end, AND can be made ahead of time and heated up in mere seconds in the morning.  This, my friends, is a WIN!

So you start with finely chopped veggies of your choice.  I use zucchini, onion, celery, red bell pepper and tomatoes.  (For the hubs, I use turkey bacon and green bell pepper.  Really anything you like works here. If you use meat, make sure it's fully-cooked before step 2.)  Sautee them until they are tender.  (I use a tiny smidge of EVOO.)

Spray a 12-muffin pan with non-stick spray and divide your sauteed veggies evenly amongst the muffin cups.  Then take a 12 oz. container of egg whites or egg alternative OR about 11 real eggs, beat them, salt and pepper them, and divide them evenly amongst the muffin cups (on top of your veggies).

Put a little cheese (I use 2% colby jack) on top of each.  The recipe calls for shredded.  I was out, so I just broke cheese slices into 4 parts and put them on top.  It was PERFECTION.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15 min.  You can eat them immediately OR refrigerate them (or even individually wrap in Saran Wrap and freeze them).  If you make them ahead, it takes about 15 seconds in the microwave OR put them on foil in the oven at around 450 degrees for 5 or 10 minutes.

You've got yourself a healthy, low calorie, high protein (and low WWpoints - 1 point per muffin) breakfast that's quick, easy, and DELICIOUS - even for your non-egg eaters. :)

Love & Shipoopies,

Leslie

Wordless Wednesdays - Sleeping Beauty

I just uploaded all the pics from my phone to my computer, so I was sort of flipping through them when I noticed a pattern. :)

Love & Shipoopies,

Leslie

Makes So Much More Sense

As most of you probably know, I'm pretty fond of music.  I love to sing.  I love to dance.  I like classical, choral, oldies, jazz, bluegrass, country, pop, and occassionally even hip-hop.  If there's no music playing for long enough, I'll start singing something without even realizing it.  (Just ask my scrapbooking lady.  I think I pretty well drive her NUTS at crops singing without realizing it. haha)

You know that show, "Don't Forget the Lyrics"?  Well, I didn't forget them.  I'm a lyrics girl.  I can't tell you the chords being used (like the Hubs), who sang it, what year it debuted, or its "B side" (like my Diddy), but if you want to know what they're saying, I can tell you... at least I can tell you what I've always thought they were saying.  Generally, I'm right on with lyrics, but occassionally I find a song where I was way off.  (Remember this post?)

This all brings me to my new car (I'll really have to do an "I haven't blogged in ages" catch-up soon) and its 3 months of satellite radio. I'm officially addicted to satellite radio.  I love the station options, but more importantly, I love being able to hit the "info" button and find out the name of the song and who is singing it.  You'd be amazed how many songs you know with titles you'd NEVER recognize. 

For instance, do YOU know the name of this song?



It's called "De-Do-Do-Do, De-Da-Da-Da".  I mean, it's probably what I'd call it if I were trying to get someone to know what song I was referencing ("You know, that song that goes, "De-do-do-do, de-da-da-da."), but I figured it had some ACTUAL title.  Nope.

But I discovered last week that I had the words (and meaning) of a song completely wrong.  I saw the name of the song and went, "Oh, well that makes MUCH more sense!!!"  Do you know this song?



It's title is "Dawn (Go Away)". I ALWAYS, my whole life, thought it was saying, "Don't Go Away" which always bothered me because in the chorus, to me, it went, "Don't go away!  Please go away!"  (Dude, make up your mind!) And I always thought it was about some guy who couldn't make up his mind if he wanted this girl or not.  (And at the beginning when it says, "They call her Dawn,"  I always thought it was saying, "They call her doll." I just thought it was affectionate and one of the reasons he was wrestling with his decision - stay or go away.)

I think most people get addicted to satellite radio because of the very specific stations, but for me, it's that "info" button.  Now when I'm listening to the plain old radio, I'm constantly pressing "info" and getting irritated that it won't work. ;)

Love & Shipoopies,
Leslie

I've Failed Her Already

Did you ever have one of those moments where you see something that makes you question if you've already ruined your kid for life?  Killed her future?  Ensured her place in therapy? 

I had mine today.

I passed a sign for Twaddler Soccer - 18 months - 6 years old.

Epic Fail, Mom.

There goes her career as a professional soccer player.

*Seriously, who the heck would try to teach an 18 month old soccer in a formal setting?  Helping her kick a ball without tripping on it and busting her face open?  Sure.  Soccer in a team setting?  Pass.*

Love & Shipoopies,
Leslie

*I hope none of you passed out from my posting twice in one week.  tee-hee

I never knew...

Last Thursday, I had a day.  It was long.  It was umm... let's say irritating.  Work was less than ideal and the last 3.5 hours of it were spent double-duty-ing as Mom as well because Drew went to play golf.  T, of course, could NOT leave me alone.  I was pausing every 5 minutes to answer some question, do some redirecting, or help with something.  By the time my work day was over, I was DONE. 

There was to be no cooking.  Steak-N-Shake, here we come!

We hopped into the car and then the backseat began, "Mommy, can I... Mommy, why... Mommy, where's my umbrella?  Mommy, I need my umbrella?  Mommy, it's going to rain.  I need my umbrella now.  Mommy, where's my umbrella?  Mommy, can I have my umbrella right now?  Mommy, I really need my umbrella right now.  It's going to rain."

Now, this on a good day is irritating.  On a day where my brain is already one millisecond from explosion...

*sigh*

And here's the thing.  I HATE to be ignored.  DESPISE it.  LOATHE it.  I don't ever mind a, "Can you wait just a minute/day/while?" but flat ignoring chaps my hide!!! So I've never been one of those parents who can just turn up the radio and pretend the questions aren't coming in machine-gun-style.  It's not within me.  I feel the need to continue with "It's right below your feet. I'll give it to you when we get there.  Please stop asking.  I can't hand it to you while I'm driving.  You can't open it in the car. I'll give it to you when we get there.  When we get there.  WHEN WE GET THERE!!!!!"

But then...

The rain finally started.  And it wasn't your basic afternoon shower.  It was SERIOUS rain.  It was "slow down to 10 miles an hour because you can't technically see the lane markings or sides of the road or other cars" kind of rain.  It was "half the cars on the road turned on their flashers" kind of rain. 

It was rain SO LOUD that it drowned-out the questions...

and I didn't have to feel an ounce of guilt about not answering them.  I wasn't ignoring them.  I just couldn't hear them.

Can't control the rain.

There's something to be said for a good, hard rain at the end of an exhausting day.

Love & Shipoopies,

Leslie

Be careful what you name them...

"Mommy, Granna pooped in her panties!"

Yep.  This is the moment when I spit out my drink, fell out of my chair, and began crying I was laughing so hard.

To be fair, it was a DOLL in her dollhouse, not the REAL Granna (my MIL).

It's the grandmother doll, which Granna bought and named Granna.

I told her pooping in her panties is what you get for naming a babydoll after yourself.

Happy Friday! (And Happy 4th!)

Love & Shipoopies,

Lesle

A Little Hard to Focus

Yesterday, while I was trying to delve hard into my work day, a show was put on.  It made focusing on anything other than the show quite difficult. :)

The kicks in THIS video were later taught in detail to Daddy. ;)

Love & Shipoopies,

Leslie

A Rose is a Rose...

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose

By any other name would smell as sweet."

"You say 'poe-tAA-toe.'  I say 'poe-tAH-toe.'"

Much has been said (and sung) about what we call things. 

There are differences created by geography, family, culture, etc.

Geography - soda, pop, Cokes

Family - I've been mocked endlessly for calling handing out Christmas presents "opening the tree"

Culture - think of your mom's sister.  Is she "ant", "aaaahnt" or "aahntie"?

And then there are those that are just WRONG. :)

I heard a lady on the news the other day talk about being "FUSS-trated."

I'll be honest.  I died a little inside.

Does she not SEE the R?!?

I once knew someone by the last name Wilkes.

People REGULARLY would read it "Wilkison".

YOU ADDED AN ENTIRE SYLLABLE TO THE END.

Just created it from thin air!!!

Then there's my husband.  He's a middle-namer.  But his first name is Joel.

Good, strong, relatively common American name.

Want to know who telemarketers and spam mail look for?

Juan.

Yep.  That's close.

And don't get me started on people in the south adding S's to store names.

WalMartS, TargetS, KMarts, Krogers

Makes my skin crawl!!!

You've got your "X-specially" and "Let me AX you a question."

But the world's most ironic mispronunciation?

My Spanish teacher, Senor Tic-Tac (bad breath), used to instruct us daily on our need to work on our

"Pro-NOUN-ciation"

Yep.

Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice.

Love, Shipoopies, and a Happy Weekend to you All!!!

Leslie

Lyrics

It's probably no surprise to anyone who knows me that I'm a lyrics girl.  I'm sure it's the English degree in me, or maybe it's that part of my soul/mind/heart that lead me to the English degree.  (So many things in life follow the chicken/egg arguement.) 

I'm sure my mom gets sick (and tired - Hello, Bill Cosby!) of hearing me say, "This song has the GREATEST lyrics. Listen to it.....Now be sure to listen closely to this part.  Aren't those awesome?!?  Let's listen again!" Poor thing, I do it to her all the time!!

Why am I telling you this?  Well, The Hubs had his Spring concert at school Tuesday night and one of the choirs did a little Les Miserables.  I've always loved the music, but suddenly, this particular lyric is standing out to me.  Maybe I just never understood the lyrics before now?  Maybe I just never caught the beauty of the words before, but I've been singing it non-stop since Tuesday night.

But the tigers come at night

With their voices soft as thunder

As they tear your hope apart

As they turn your dream to shame

Love.The.Imagery!!!

Anyway, my new attachment to this lyric got me to thinking of other favorite lyrics.

Everytime I think of you, I always catch my breath! 

Still possibly the most romantic lyric every written.

It's no surprise to me I am my own worst enemy, 'cause every now and then I kick the living sh** out of me.

Never was a truer word spoken.

 

You find this situation just a bit uncomfortable;

You'd rather stay far away from reality.

For you to understand would be clearly impossible;

So you shut your eyes and swear you can see.

Claiming there is a God, but does that mean anything?

So condescending to those that you don't understand;

Just too easy to make them your enemies.

Like an ostrich, you bury your head in the sand,

And then shout about all the things you believe.

But if there is a God, don't you think He can see

What you really mean? What you're doing?

You can't find the answers

Till you learn to question;

You won't appear stupid

Just ask for direction.

You're insecure and it clouds your perception

So stop and listen

And learn a lesson in love without condition.

So place all the souls that you know

in their own little box;

Quite convenient to handle them that way;

You're the only one you know who carries a cross

You don't care what they care about anyway.

And You talk to your God,

Prayin' for those who sin,

For their eyes to be opened.

You can't find the answers

Till you learn to question;

You won't appear stupid

Just ask for direction.

You're insecure and it clouds your perception

So stop and listen

And learn a lesson in love without condition.

I tried to find a clip of lyrics from this song by Ginny Owens, but really the whole song is amazing.  I love the lyrics. Powerful, life changing lyrics.

And then there's my latest ringtone - from back in the day.

We'll keep on spending sunny days this way

We're gonna talk and laugh our time away

I feel it comin' closer day by day

Life would be ecstasy, you and me and Leslie...

*Ok, MAYBE it's really "you and me endlessly", but as a kid, my parents TOTALLY told me it was Leslie and I LOVED it.  Still do.* 

Do YOU pay attention to the lyrics?  Do they move you and change you?  Or do you just bop along, never knowing the meaning of those great beats?

What are YOUR favorite lyrics?

Love & Shipoopies,

Leslie

Wordless Wednesdays -- Someone has a birthday coming up...

Love & Shipoopies,

Leslie

Monday, Monday... Can't Trust That Day

People always say Mondays get a bad rap.  I always say if they didn't bring a long, hectic week at a job that I.... umm... less than love, I wouldn't mind it at all.  It's not the fact that it comes after Sunday or something about its name that makes peole dread it.  It's that it signifies the end of family fun and relaxation and the beginning of very little time for family and lots of  busy and stress.  That being said, I try not to actually dread Mondays (though I do always wish my weekends had a little more time in them).  I don't always succeed, but I try to always enter things with a positive attitude.  It helps.

This morning, however, began with my sleeping right through my alarm that was to wake me up in time to get some exercise before the rest of the fam gets up and going.  I don't mean I turned my alarm off or snoozed a little.  I mean I woke up almost an hour after it was set with no recollection of it ever going off.  The hubs swears it did. 

Then I burned my toast.  And when I say burned, I mean it was completely black - except for the orange, glowing part.  Yep, actually set it kind of on fire.  I had to throw it into the sink and run water on it.

That can't be the start my Monday needed. :)

OR, maybe I'm just getting all the bad for the week out of the way from the get go, thus prepping myself for an amazing day. :)

Here's hoping.

Love & Shipoopies,
Leslie